03. Toys R Us and Gender-Specific Marketing
03. Toys R Us and Gender-Specific Marketing
In this September, the decision to stop marketing its products by gender was made by Toys R Us in response to anti-sexist marketing demands. Would Toys R Us, by alternating its marketing strategies, be benefited?
Recently, many toy stores are changing their marketing strategies by organizing the toys in non- gender-specific sections; that is, instead of “girly-pink” aisles, the consumers can find the dolls in the “doll” section. Referring to Lego’s attempt to attract female customers, the new marketing approach is rather beneficial to Toys R Us. Lego was previously perceived as the toys for boys; that is, it had limited number of customers to offer its products. Nevertheless, by producing Lego blocks with colors ranging from pale greens to pinks, Lego successfully targeted girls as their customers. By offering products with variety of colors, Lego no longer was gender-specific, which allowed its products to appeal to more different customers and enlarge its customer segment. The larger and various customer segments may result in increasing revenue, as it indicates that the firm has larger number of customers. Toys R Us, too, may benefit from its alternative marketing strategy since its gender-specific products are no longer limited to certain groups of customers.
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References: (You may also click the bolded words to be directly connected to the resources)
1. “Toys R Us to stop marketing its toys by gender in wake of sexism claims” written by Alex Delmar-Morgan on September 04, 2013:
2. “Gender Specific Marketing – Does it Need to Stop?” written by Nikki White on September 19, 2013:
http://bigsisterboston.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/gender-specific-marketing-does-it-need-to-stop/
3. “Petition Asks Toy Seller Toys ‘R’ Us To Stop Gender-Specific Marketing” written on September 24, 2013:
